Another "loco" project....Now Completed!

[WoundedBear]

Me thinks I have too much time on my hands some days.....lol. I have always thought the SP Cab Forwards were some of the coolest looking locomotives ever built, but running an AC-12 or the likes on my little layout is unthinkable. But the more I kept looking at my layouts "big" power, a 2-6-6-2, I couldn't help wondering if I could turn one around and do a freelanced version for my shortline.

I grabbed a tanker and a tenderized version of the Mantua models and started the disassembly. Pretty soon I had a pile of parts to work with. I pulled out all the DCC harnesses and saved those. The model has a nice channel milled along the length of the boiler weight for wiring. I need to find a tender to use, but that shouldn't be too difficult. I stared at parts for a while, test fit some things together, took a few measurements, had some coffee, had some T, looked at some pictures on the net, stared at parts some more, hummed and hawed and scratched my head, had more coffee and T, found my Evergreen styrene box and some fresh blades, took a deep breath and went to town.



The first thing to do was get a front and rear cab wall made with the roof arch defined. I also wanted to be able to use the original Mantua mounting pins/tabs for the new bodywork. I used .040" styrene, and slowly got two walls reasonably square to the chassis and each other.



The builders at Stihl Yard's shops will utilize anything they can get their hands on. They found these doors and windows at Mr. Tichy's junk yard   and with some slab steel the boys got to work. A few minor mods were required to the front window, and some of the muntins will be removed eventually. These windows even have laser cut glazing for a finishing touch later. A suitable door was selected, just for the reason that it looks like it could be a sliding door. All frames were modified a bit with a file. I used .080" 1/4 round for the front corners.



To get rid of the sliding window look for the front window, I added a few strips of .015" X .020" strip. I think if I get rid of enough muntins to make a three light window, it should look alright.

[WoundedBear]

The next task was to cut out the front wall and mount the window. That went relatively smooth, and I turned my attention to joining the front and rear walls of the cab. The door helps keep things square as the glue sets. I used laminated styrene strips for the top cab rails. Repeated test fitting is required, as is waiting for glue to dry. This progress was made over the course of 4 solid days of model building.





Once I had the doors in place, the windows could go in and really start to fill in the cab sides. Again, styrene strip is used to fill gaps and make square areas. Building like this also makes keeping the windows and doors at all the same height a lot easier. And some more test fitting.





Had no .030" white styrene left, so I used some black....no difference. The walls got filled in and everything set back on the chassis to dry for a few days before I set the small windows into the rear doors. A small slit Tichy window and a short Tichy shutter will make a convincing access door rearward to the boiler. The steps need to be moved and a fairing built around the forward edge. A pilot as well.

This is where I am for now, and with racing season rapidly approaching, it looks like this will be my summer project for rainy days. DCC is a necessity, and sound will most likely be included in the build as well. I need a funky lookin tender too. That will most likely get scratch built too. I'm thinking a light on the nose instead of the roof. The roof is going to be an adventure unto itself....lol. I can see some rivet decals being used.

Enjoy my progress for now, and I will keep posting as I make more headway.

Sid

[WoundedBear]

For those of you that are interested in our racing, here's a quick update. The body is back from the fiberglass guy. We spent 40 hours or more peelin paint off it....remember this pic?



Well it looks much better now. No more cracks and splits.....some of those old decals were structural lmao Next week we drop it at the paint shop. Going back to a similar electric blue pearl and we're going to name the car Blue My Mind. Haqd a new steering box put in it and some chassis upgrades done to get a 7.50 second certification on her. We're looking forwards to a fun and exciting season.

Sid

[rogertra]

Sid.

Nice work on the cab forward.  Looks like you got the window problem solved.  Well done.

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

Super work, all the way around!

[Ken Huck]

Wow !  I think I'll just stick to my matchsticks and bamboo skewers.

Can't wait to see it finished...both projects !

Ken

[Bill Baker]

Bear, you have a great amount of talent. I wished I had a tenth of that.  I've been working on a Labelle wooden passenger car for almost a year and I haven't finished it yet.  I'm trying to modify it from a closed vestibule to an open vestibule  If I ever get my camera back from my grandson, I'll post a picture of it.
Bill

[Pacific Northern]

Your conversion of the Mantua 2-6-6-2 to a Cab Forward looks great, once you finish your will certainly have a unique engines.

What did surprise me was the fact that the Mantua had been lettered for the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

The CPR was the only Canadian Railroad to use a mallet type engine. The CPR versions were 0-6-6-0 engines and were used for pusher service through the Rocky Mountains.  These engines while very successful were also extremely expensive to maintain and the six mallet engines were themselves converted to 2-10-0's, which proved to be ideal engines for the Rocky Mountains.

I look forward to seeing more pictures of your conversion once it has been completed.

[ryeguyisme]

Well certainly a neat kitbash! I am definitely looking forward to seeing more.

I do have a suggestion to make the engine look more proportionate: The boiler from a tyco 2-8-0/0-8-0




The idea came from an article on how to make a Mantua 2-6-6-2 into a faux D&SL 2-6-6-0

[WoundedBear]

I like that idea Rye. I was sorta eyeing an old Pacific with the same thing in mind. Right now the biggest headache is sorting out the wiring connections at the monkey deck area. The Mantua 9 pin system may be able to be adapted in there. I have a few other ideas as well.

Sid

[ryeguyisme]

The neat thing about the tyco boiler is it plops right on the lower mantua plastic frame without too much modification.

[WoundedBear]

Well, it's been a few weeks now, and progress is slowly being made on all fronts. I haven't turned up a suitable boiler so for now I am going ahead with my plans to use the Mantua one. The tender has seen the most attention. I try to spend a little time each morning with a coffee and some T and a bit of rock n roll at the modelling bench. Some days it's an hour, others it's five or six. Some days see progress, other days it's staring and thinking and planning in my head.

I worked out how to adapt the Mantua 9 pin connector from the tenderized version and allow the tender to be disconnected. The tender itself is a Mehano medium length with the coal bunker section cut out. Then I grafted in a shortened saddle tank from a Mantua 2-6-6-2ST. This gives two distinct compartments for the oil and water. I am looking for a Frankenstein feel with this loco......something the boys in the backshop cobbled together after a few puffs too many, late into the night. No prototypes to follow, just a thought in my mind and a basic understanding of how they worked. The rest is all smoke and mirrors....lmao.

[WoundedBear]

Got the side rails for the cab in place as well as the rear doors. The doors are made from Tichy shutters, windows and some styrene strip. The roof will be sheeted with something.....corrugated tin maybe? .015" styrene would be easiest. Next will be to get wiring and pickups done in the tender and start laying out the wiring paths for the loco. Either the loco or the tender need the pickups switched from side to side.

As for the race car.....well it's getting along also. Finally got all the parts back in one place for the first time since last October. Now to get it assembled. The body is painted....Blue My Mind Pearl.....and we dragged her old azz to the annual NHRA chassis certification clinic and they saw it fit to give her a 7.50 second tag. That's means I can legally run the car as fast as a 7.500 second 1/4 mile at around 180 MPH. Maybe next year we find some more horsepower. I'm also having some graphics done on glossy vinyl for the sides of it. I'll post more pics once it's back in one piece.

For now it's back to the bench......model and/or work........and see what else I can come up with. More pics soon..........

Enjoy!

Sid

[jonathan]

Sid, I'm blown away as usual.  Can't wait to see your homemade cab forward all painted up and on the rails.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Regards,

Jonathan

[rogertra]

Sid, I'm blown away as usual.  Can't wait to see your homemade cab forward all painted up and on the rails.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Regards,

Jonathan

Same here Sid, just excellent workmanship.

Cheers

Roger T.